The present invention relates generally to electronic product information display systems, and more particularly to an electronic tag adapted for attachment to a tag rail having a conductor extending therealong for inductive coupling therewith, the electronic tag including an attractor light and/or sound element for attracting the attention of consumers to items on display.
The concept of electronic product information display systems is becoming more and more popular. For example, a system which utilizes an inductive coupling technique to provide power and information to a plurality of electronic display tags is disclosed in U.S. Pat Nos. 5,537,126 and 5,736,967, the complete specifications of which are incorporated herein by reference. Other types of electronic product information display systems may utilize RF communication between the electronic display tags and a controller.
The advent of such electronic product information display systems has created an ever expanding interest in additional features which can be included in the electronic display tags to provide additional benefits to system users. For example, in any sales environment it is desirable to attract customers to certain items which may be new or on sale. One manner of attracting a customer""s attention in an electronic product information display environment is to include a switched light on a display tag. U.S. Pat. No. 5,753,900 provides an example of such a switched light in an electronic price label. However, the switched light arrangement provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,753,900 is considered disadvantageous in that it requires a battery within the electronic tag necessitating replacement which can be labor intensive and expensive, and in that it is not considered to provide suitable customer attraction under all circumstances, particularly where a customer is walking along the ends of adjacent aisles, such as in a supermarket, and the tag and its associated item are located at a relatively central location within aisles.
Further, many known tag constructions utilize customized controlling circuitry in the form of an application-specific integrated circuit (xe2x80x9cASICxe2x80x9d) which controls the display of information on an LCD display. It would be undesirable to have to create a new customized ASIC simply in order to accommodate and control an additional light emitting element such as an LED, small light bulb, or other type of annunciator such as a piezoelectric beeper.
Accordingly, it would be desirable and advantageous to provide a battery free electronic tag having a customer attracting light and/or sound element. Further, it would be desirable and advantageous to provide an electronic tag with a directed light emitting element for attracting the attention of customer""s from a distance down an aisle. Still further, it would be desirable and advantageous to provide a product information display tag having an LCD screen and a separate customer attracting light and/or sound element which is controlled by one or more signals available from the circuit provided for controlling the LCD display screen.
In one aspect of the present invention an electronic tag installable along a shelf-edge rail of a product information display system is provided. The electronic tag includes a housing having a front side for facing outwardly from a shelf-edge, the front side including a generally planar portion and a light protecting cover portion extending therefrom, the light protecting cover portion including at least one opening therethrough. At least one light emitting element is positioned to direct light out from the opening for attracting the attention of customers. The housing includes top, bottom, and first and second sides and the opening and the light emitting element are positioned such that light is directed to at least one of the first and second sides for attracting the attention of customers from a distance down an aisle in which the tag may be placed. This tag configuration facilitates attraction of customers even as they walk along the ends of adjacent aisles.
In another aspect of the present invention a battery free electronic tag installable along a shelf-edge rail of a product information display system which includes a conductor extending along the rail is provided. The electronic tag includes at least one annunciator selected from the group consisting of light emitting elements and sound emitting elements, for attracting the attention of customers when energized. A pick-up coil is provided in the tag for inductively receiving a signal from a conductor when positioned in close proximity thereto. A power supply circuit is connected to the pick-up coil for receiving the induced signal and energizing the annunciator with energy derived from the induced signal. This tag configuration provides power for the annunciator without requiring the use of a battery and thus eliminates the labor and expense associated with battery use and replacement. A corresponding method of powering an annunciator of an electronic tag which is positioned adjacent a conductor of a product information display system involves (a) providing a pick-up coil in the tag for inductively receiving a signal from the conductor, and (b) repeatedly: (i) charging a capacitor using energy received from the signal induced in the pick-up coil, and (ii) discharging the capacitor through the annunciator to energize the annunciator.
A further aspect of the present invention provides an electronic product information display tag having an LCD display for displaying product information, a display driver connected for controlling the LCD display, and at least one light emitting element for attracting a customer""s attention when energized. A display signal decoding circuit is connected for receiving at least one display control signal from the display driver, the display signal decoding circuit is connected for controlling energization of the light emitting element based upon a display control signal received from the display driver. This tag configuration facilitates control of a customer attracting light based upon signals available from existing circuitry which might be provided in a customized ASIC chip of a tag, although the configuration could be utilized in non-ASIC tags. A corresponding method of controlling an annunciator of an electronic product information display tag including an LCD display screen and an LCD display driver, where the annunciator is a non-LCD type element, involves (a) producing at least one display control signal with the LCD display drive, and (b) controlling the energization of the annunciator based upon the produced display control signal.